June 18, 2025 | Mark Luis Foster

The HOA reform legislation didn’t get very far in the most recent Minnesota legislative session, but they did squeak in the ombudsperson role for HOAs/CICs, which will now be part of the Department of Commerce.  Ostensibly the role is to mitigate issues between HOA residents and HOA Boards, and those complaints could overwhelm such an office.

The office won’t have much authority to do anything, either.  According to the Minnesota Reformer:

The ombudsperson . . .  will have no authority to enforce agreements or offer legal advice. Their main responsibilities will be to create and disseminate plain-language explanations of common provisions in HOA documents; provide “informal” mediation services; and offer advice to lawmakers on issues affecting common interest communities. “Common interest communities” is the legal umbrella term for HOAs and condo associations.

This role is a small win for the representatives who were fighting for HOA reform. We’ll have to wait and see what kind of structure evolves in the Commerce Department before getting too excited one way of the other on this new HOA oversight role.

Read the whole article from Minnesota Reformer here.

[UPDATED] Channel 5 ran a story that commingled the Lakeville roof assessment story with the HOA mediator office story. We were interviewed for comment but the reported opted not to use our statement. We essentially told him that while we favor education over legislation, the HOA mediator role may be just fine for Minnesota depending on the way the Commerce Department sets it up and how they track/monitor the complaints.  It could be useful information overall to help boards improve their fiscal responsibilities, etc.  The reporter must not have gotten what he wanted.  Watch the story here